


Washed in the Water

by Pagestealer



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:01:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25518478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pagestealer/pseuds/Pagestealer
Summary: Just some comfort fluff after the team escapes from Merrick's lab. It's time to wash all the blood off. Again.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 6
Kudos: 230





	Washed in the Water

**Author's Note:**

> All characters belong to Greg Rucka and Gina Prince-Blythewood. Only borrowing with respect. Forgive the Google translations. 
> 
> When I watched the film, I immediately imagined these characters in the shower after the ordeal they went through. (Lol, not like that.) They’re covered in blood and probably fairly traumatized. I’m guessing Nile curled up and cried. But I only wrote about Joe and Nicky because I love them so.

Nicky shut the bathroom door with a soft click. When they had left London, they had driven hours, late into the night, north into Scotland. Now they were in a safe house on the outskirts of Glasgow, to lay low and get cleaned up. Booker had showered first, ignoring the ugly silence in the room, then gone out to find them something to eat and some medical supplies. They had never needed those before... Everybody was too tired to worry about how to deal with the fallout of his betrayal for now. That could wait until tomorrow. Now it was Joe and Nicky's turn in the bathroom. With the door shut, Nicky turned around met Joe’s gaze. He smiled softly, wearily, Joe’s face mirroring his. They had not slept on the ride north. Andy had pulled over after a couple of hours and Booker had taken over driving to give her a rest; Joe had taken the opportunity to move into the back seat with Nicky, where they had rested their heads together, fingers entwined, but they had not been able to sleep. Now that they were finally alone together upstairs, they found they had little to say. They didn’t need words to communicate though, they hadn’t for centuries. Nicky leaned his back against the door and folded his arms. Joe slowly approached him. Nicky slumped a little as Joe took a final step into his space. They leaned their foreheads together and exhaled as one. Their experience in Merrick’s lab had been painful and exhausting but they found they weren’t ready to face it quite yet. The fear they had been unable to fully ignore, the agony of watching each other suffer and die. It could all be mulled over later, in the light of day, when it wasn’t so fresh. For now, it was time, like so many times before, to wash the blood off. 

Joe gently jerked his head back towards the shower and Nicky sighed and nodded, pushing himself off the door. Joe turned the water on, waited a few moments for it to warm up, then turned back to Nicky who reached out and gently pulled Joe’s shirt up over his head, tossing it aside. He stared at the man for a moment, this man he loved so much, at the dried blood on the now unblemished skin. Joe reached out to caress his face, as if to say, “It’s okay, I’m okay.” He then reached out and pulled Nicky’s shirt up and over his head and dropped it on the floor. Their clothes would have to be burned. Again. Joe raised his arms to hold Nicky’s face in his hands. It had been less than 8 hours since he had knelt above his body, knees in a pool of the man’s blood and brain matter, afraid to even touch him, afraid that this was it, the time Nicky wouldn’t wake up. It had only been seconds really, waiting for him to gasp awake, to jerk up off the floor, but it had felt like an eternity. When that man Keane had put a gun in Nicky’s mouth and pulled the trigger, with Joe so close but unable to stop it, he had felt his heart stop right along with Nicky’s. He had felt so helpless. His hands moved from Nicky’s cheeks, to cup the back of his head, which was still sticky and blood soaked, a river of red dried down his back. This reminded Joe with a sick jolt of why they were standing there and he dropped his arms to his sides. Nicky stared steadily at him, reading his mind as usual, and grabbed his hands, squeezing briefly before dropping them. 

They finished getting undressed and stepped into the shower together. Letting the water run over them, the bottom of the tub soon ran red with blood as the last several days washed off their bodies. Joe gently turned Nicky around by the shoulders and started to work his fingers through the back of Nicky’s scalp, gently massaging the blood and gore out of his hair. He hated this part. They both did. Nicky could feel Joe’s tension, and he murmured assurances. “Sto bene, amore mio.” They were both okay, they had survived, they had more time. Joe kept working his fingers through Nicky’s hair, even after the water ran clear and there was nothing more to wash away. Nicky turned the water off as it started to run cold. The faucet drip-dripped in the quiet left behind. Joe sighed and dropped his head against Nicky’s back, water trickling off his curls. Nicky leaned back into him, dropping his head backwards so that Joe was forced to raise his own and rest his chin on Nicky’s shoulder, their cheeks now aligned. They breathed together like that for a moment, eyes closed, then Nicky turned around and slowly raised his lips to Joe’s and held them there, a millimeter away from touching. Joe smiled and leaned in, pressing their lips together, gently. There was no urgency here; they had time. Joe shivered violently. Nicky smirked into his mouth, and Joe huffed out a quiet chuckle, pulling away. Well, maybe they should dry off first, and move this into the bedroom. Or perhaps go downstairs, make sure Andy was alright, get something to eat first. They could pick this up later. They had time.

**Author's Note:**

> Italian translation:  
> “Sto bene, amore mio.” I’m okay, my love.


End file.
